What writers can learn from pop stars

It might sound a little unexpected to set Dua Lipa and Helen Garner on the same page, yet both demonstrate something fundamental: how to build a voice. 

Garner paints scenes with sharp observational detail, sunlight catching on chipped teacups, the quiet despair in a suburban living room. Lipa delivers lyric hooks that lodge themselves in your bloodstream. They're instant and irresistible. Both are storytellers.

Eco-fiction and cli-fi: why climate-centred narratives are more crucial than ever

Not long ago, a story about climate disaster might have been shelved neatly in the realm of science fiction. Now, it reads like realism with a sense of urgency. 

As global temperatures climb and natural disasters become routine news, climate fiction, often shortened to "cli-fi", has shed its speculative skin and settled into something uncomfortably close to home.